More Russian Peacekeepers From Collective CSTO Forces Leave Kazakhstan - Defense Ministry

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2022) Russian peacekeepers deployed to Kazakhstan as part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) mission have left Almaty and are on their way to the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry informs.

"Currently, 19 aircraft ...of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces, carrying out the transfer of Russian peacekeepers from the Collective Peacekeeping Forces of the CSTO returning from Kazakhstan, have taken off from the Almaty airfield and are in the air," the ministry said in a Sunday statement.

Peacekeepers from Armenia, Belarus and Uzbekistan have already returned home from Kazakhstan.

The return of all CSTO peacekeepers is scheduled to be completed by January 19.

A wave of protests swept across Kazakhstan earlier this month, following a sharp rise in gas prices. Despite the government's attempts to quell the discontent and promises to bring the prices down, violence erupted in Kazakhstan and protests turned into riots, looting and clashes with law enforcement officers.

The government declared a state of emergency until January 19. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev asked for CSTO assistance in resolving the issue and peacekeepers were sent into Kazakhstan. The CSTO mission wrapped up earlier this weekend and peacekeepers began to withdraw on Thursday.